Critique of 2.0?

[OKW Lover]

Just wondered what everybody thought of their Non-DIS experiences on PCC 2.0.

Val & I throughly enjoyed the ship. Discovered the upstairs area of Cove Cafe on day two and loved it. Also enjoyed a couple of the lounges before dinner each night, Cadillac Lounge and the Promenade Lounge. Normally we would have wine on our veranda before dinner, but the temps just didn't cooperate.

I also appreciated being able to see most of the Pats game on Sunday night in Diversions.

On the down side; we had poor experiences with our dining room servers and our cabin steward. I believe that they were rushed into front-line jobs before they had adequate training.

To say that our servers were slow is an understatement. Our table was often one of the last to get their food. One night I had ordered my appetizer and main course and specifically asked for a glass of wine to be served with the main course. Main course came, no wine. I was done eating before they finally brought it, which I sent back of course.

Our cabin steward was un-obtrusive but he just didn't do anything beyond towel animals (which aren't a big deal to us). We had to ask several time for extra shampoo/lotion/etc and only finally got them after we asked a different steward in the corridor. Also requested ice in the room each afternoon - never got it (didn't matter because our plans changed).

I did rate them lower on the cruise survey, which is something I'm loath to do since I know it affects their raises, etc. But Disney needs to know that more training is necessary.

 

[*NikkiBell*]

Did you mean 2.0? 3.0 isn't until 2012.

 

[OKW Lover]

Did you mean 2.0? 3.0 isn't until 2012.

Good point Nikki! Edited original post to reflect 2.0. I'm hoping they have this fixed by 3.0.

 

[chirurgeon]

I will agree with Jeff about the servers. We always seemed to be the last people leaving the dining room even though we were only a table of 4 or 5 people. Our main server was very nice, but the food delivery was slow. I wonder if they have moved some more experienced servers to the Dream. I must say our Palo servers were wonderful. Especially our dinner server. He claimed this was his first cruise as a Palo main server. We could not tell that. Our cabin steward was also very good. After the first day, we got 2 buckets of ice every day.

Kim

 

[safetymom]

We had great servers!!! They are still cross training among the two ships and the Dream so there were a lot of new cast members on the ship. I am sure in the next couple of months all the ships will be better trained.

 

[jessrose18]

We had ok dining servers, they only perked up the last night. Can I just say that the new special menu they served the first night at dinner at Parrot Cay, was aweful! Otherwise, all of our meals were great. Well breakfast buffet was only ok. Goofys chicken strips were one of our favorite things on the ship. And our meal at Palo was above and beyond! Our problem was with room service on Nassau day we called and ordered a steak sandwhich and two ice cream bars they said 40 minutes. After 1 hour I called and asked if order was still on the way, she said oh let me check and call you back. After 20 more minutes I called again and she says "oh I'm sorry the guy that was supposed to deliver your food went on break" sorry. Can I still send it? I said no at this point we are going up to goofys because we didnt want to be late for the jodi concert. The second time we ordered room service we asked for fries with a sandwhich and the fries never came. Otherwise we really did think the service was above and beyond.

 

[WebmasterJohn]

I thought our servers and room steward were good - nothing 'over the top' - but still good. The food at Parrot Cay the first night was aweful - everything tasted like paste.

The rest of the cruise was so hectic that we ate most meals in our stateroom from room service. We actually found the room service food to be really good and delivered fast.

We had dinner in Palo two nights and both times it was awesome!!!

I had very little interaction with the cruise staff this cruise so I can't comment too much on that - but the baristas in the Cove Cafe were great

 

[kimisabella]

Our room steward was great, no problems at all, and very nice. Our servers on the other hand were not that great. Our whole dining room experiences weren't great. The main server was OK, very S-L-O-W, and our assistant server was really bad with drinks. We went without having drinks all the way into the meal, and they weren't refilled when asked. So much so, that my husband asked the assistant server how long he had worked for DCL and he said 3 weeks. It's at that point we all realized it wasn't really his fault.

The server who dumped a styrofoam cup of hot coffee on my husband during dinner one night is a whole different story. What a nightmare that was. That situation turned into one mess after another. We tried to explain the whole thing on the comment card, but it was just too complicated for the few blank lines they give you. I put a letter in the mail to Karl Holz explaining everything that happened, we'll see what happens with that.

Other than that, we had a fabulous time...... really!!!

 

[ImTooExcitedToSleep]

Our servers Alex & Jen were awesome. Our room steward was unimpressive.

I also was not impressed with the slow service at Wavebands, but the bartenders at Diversions were great as always.

 

[Renysmom]

Our service was miserable at best in the dining room. From forgotten orders, to spilled drinks and getting hit on the head (not me a tablemate) it was terrible!

I finally had to ask our assistant server how long he had been on the ship and he told me this is his 3rd cruise. He needs LOTS more training. Still waiting for the drink I ordered on the first night. Another time I got the hot water but never the tea bag for my tea.

Our head server told us that the kitchen staff was all new and they were freaking out about the new cruises the Wonder would be doing as they would have to do so many different meals in a week.

I understand wanting the best on the Dream but to strip the Wonder of experienced servers was not the best idea in my opinion.

 

[kimisabella]

Our service was miserable at best in the dining room. From forgotten orders, to spilled drinks and getting hit on the head (not me a tablemate) it was terrible!

I finally had to ask our assistant server how long he had been on the ship and he told me this is his 3rd cruise. He needs LOTS more training. Still waiting for the drink I ordered on the first night.

OMG, I forgot about them hitting Vinny in the head.... my poor husband got abused on this trip, lol!!

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

I really had a wonderful experience with servers. My room steward was Sakol & he was very friendly. Each time I would put away the shampoo/conditioner/lotion, a new one would be put in my stateroom. I never had to ask. The room was always clean, and he always greeted me with a smile and asked me if I needed anything. I sent clothes to be ironed & they came back the next day nicely pressed.

I had room service a couple of times and the service was timely enough. I figured that they were serving the ship, so didn't expect immediate service, but they didn't make me wait either.

Our wait staff was excellent, in my opinion. Our head server was Deniz, main server was Cesar, and assistant server was Carlo. Our tablemate, Chris, likes spicy food, and as soon as he said that I said I liked spicy food, too, and our team took good care of us. Our steak the first night had a spicy rub on it and it was delicious. They're coming out to CA with the ship & I told them I'll request them. Told Carlo we'll show him LA when they come.

I went to the Cove Bar & enjoyed it, and the Promenade Lounge was nice. Had fun playing Bingo & winning, and playing trivia & winning. It was good. The time went too fast, though.

I do agree with Tom, though, that the service in Wavebands was a little slow, but then I am not much of a drinker, so it didn't really matter to me.

Oh, I really liked the emcee for the nighttime entertainment. He was a hoot.

 

[Dodie]

Our main server was fine - not as good as some others we've had - but okay. Our drink service was pretty slow and our assistant server had some ups and downs.

Our server in Palo was amazing. He commented on how many folks they've already taken from the Wonder and Magic to train for the Dream and how many new servers there are in the dining rooms.

Our room steward was very good. He was in and out very quickly and did everything we asked for very promptly.

One thing we noticed was slow service in the bars (unless you went to the bar yourself) and how strong the drinks were across the board. The bartenders were really heavy on their pours in every bar. Not complaining, but sometimes more isn't better when you're interested in something tasting good.

We were very impressed with the captain and other officers and the decisions they made regarding our itinerary and all of the rescheduling they did to ensure we were as comfortable cruising as possible during the bad weather and that we got to Castaway Cay.

We had a great time!

 

[tlcoke]

Overall my experience was very good. Since I have an allergy to Sulfites (food preservative), my dining experience was different from most guests.

My Food Allergy was taken very seriously by the dining room staff..I was handled primarily by the Head Server Thomas in making sure everything was allergen free and cleared by the chef. Tricia our main server and Sapato our Assistant did an excellent job too.

The only meal that I had issues at was the first night for dessert - everything on the menu I tried to order, I was told I couldn't have because of the possibility of containing a suspect Preservative that I may or may not be sensitive to (including the Mickey Bar), thus I could only have Ice Cream. Luckily the other nights there were options on the menu I could have besides ice cream.

Because of my allergy, I had to order the next nights meal during dinner each night, so they could prepare it ahead of time and make sure it was safe for me to eat. My meals were excellent, I usually only ordered the main course as there was none of the Appetizers - Soup/Salad course that I could have from the main menus. I was able to order a couple of appetizers from the kids menus though, which Tricia made sure we had a copy at the table each night. My only complaint with ordering ahead was the timing of my meal - I was done eating before the rest of my table mates had their appetizer on the second night. The last night they had the timing better, so that I was not served ahead of the rest of the table.

My meals in Palo were excellent. Great service from our Server Petar.

Alana our Stateroom Hostess seemed to do a good job. We didn't ask extra of her, so nothing to rate her on in that regards. She always greeted us by name when she saw us in the hallway.

 

[KristEn87]

Our stateroom attendant was great. We were traveling with a 1 year old and we had asked for a pack n' play ahead of time, which was in our room when we arrived. Our attendant asked where I would like it placed when he turned down our room and it was there every night. He even brought a Diaper Genie with out me asking.

Our dinner servers were pretty good as well. Our assistant server way surpassed the main server and she received a larger tip then the main server. She was extremely attentive with our needs, especially my son. We had the late dinner which was slightly past my sons normal bedtime. However, he adapted quickly. Gigi always had his drink ready and bread for him to munch on in between courses. (bread was replenished quite a few times)

I agree with many of you that Parrot Cay on the first night was HORRIBLE, I had the seafood risotto and my rice was not cooked at all so I didn't eat it and few at my table like what they got so I didn't even bother sending it back or asking for something new. I was so happy that I was going to Palo for our second Parrot Cay night and it was my first time at Palo and it was FANTASTIC. I understand why it gets such rave reviews!

 

[mdvlprof]

Had excellent table servers at dinner. Funny, personable, attentive. Food was ok. Frequently heard 'mom makes better ....' Me, any meal I don't have to cook is a good meal. One lunch we had a bad server, but manager straightened things out. Room steward was competent and unobtrussive, which is a good thing for a room steward. Photo crew left much to be desired.

 

[teskak]

We had Cesar & Carlo and had great fun with them. I think Cesar worked out how we could take jokes and we played on that. Only problem was the last night when the food was slow to come out & we had to rush through our mains as Princess Emily was the pin trading kid with the officers and we had to rush to get her into Tinkerbell's gown before the start of pin trading. This meant I missed 1/2 of my main & all dessert.

Otherwise I found the room steward did not replace the shampoo unless asked and was basically OK nothing fabulous.

But I have still rebooked for 4.0

 

[mikelan6]

Now that I think of it, dinner service in the dining room was fine, but at breakfast one morning in Triton's, it felt as if they didn't care.

After taking our order, they came by once with the pastries, and after they brought the meal, the servers were just standing around talking to themselves instead of seeing if we needed anything.

 

[Kaa]

I loved, loved, loved our serving team. Cesar and Carlo were just too much fun! My room steward was good. I didn't ask much of him and he was friendly when I saw him in the hall. I ordered from room service a couple of times during the cruise and the food was good and delivered when promised. My major complaint was the service in Wavebands. So much wasted opportunity for money-making on the part of the servers. I think I was there for over an hour on the last night of the cruise before someone approached the table to ask if we needed anything!!

 

[DarthVader92]

Dining: New menu on the first night was okay, except for the Seafood Rissoto which had AWFUL lobster. To quote john's post this was TRULY PASTE! Food the rest of the nights was very good. Palo for dinner was amazing. My first time too!
Servers: Servers in the dining rooms were good, but I must shoot out Toni from Palo. I am truly a food person by photographing the food and the menus. When I was photographing the palo menu, Toni came up and said forget about it. I'll get you a take-home menu. Dinner finished and we went back to the stateroom and later that night I realize we never got the menu. The next night their was a knock on the door. It was Toni. "Oh you forgot your menu, here it is. Enjoy!" I thought that was true service!
Cruise Staff
Staff was very fun and energetic as usual. Christiaan was truly a great Cruise Director, by far the second best (Brent being number one). I found it fun that we stumped him with a 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon.
Overall
A Very fun cruise with very little low experiences.